The boxer
by Cidain
Summary: This series is very similar to Hajime No Ippo except for the fact that it takes place in America. I am trying to write as fast as I can so please be patient. This is my first story so please only give positive reinforcement and suggestions. Thanks for reading


p id="docs-internal-guid-91b883ab-7fff-9913-25d0-7caa0e424bb2" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Round One/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Boxing. I love the sport of Boxing. I tried to join the high school boxing team in my county last year and I failed miserably. Back then I weighed one hundred and ten pounds and was as skinny as a twig./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When I stepped into the ring where I was supposed to show my skill against a skilled opponent in a quick one round three-minute match. Unfortunately being a twig I stood no match for even the smallest person on the team. The smallest boxer on the team was a sophomore that weighed forty pounds more than me and was at least four inches taller. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I went down in the first fifteen seconds when I charged at him with my guard up and he threw a right cross that went straight through my guard and smashed me in the nose. The force of the impact threw me to the mat and I was eliminated with a ten count./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That was probably the lowest point of my life up until that point. Not wanting to experience the same thing this year I decided to get involved with the family farm over the summer, by moving hay bales and plowing the field without equipment except for a hoe. I did detasseling and a wide variety of other tasks like digging an irrigation ditch the length of an acre./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Luckily all of my hard work had paid off and at the beginning of this school year I had gained twenty-five pounds and it was all muscle. The first day of school is when the Boxing team held tryouts, this year they also made you have to pass this physical test of running, weights, and other cardio exercises. With my newly reformed body, I was able to get through most of them with ease, the only one that I really had a problem with was the running. Running was the only thing that I had not done over the summer./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Running was the only test that I didn't get into the top three in. With all of the testing completed, only five out of thirty people were allowed to continue on to the next round of testing. I was surprised at how the testing had changed in the last year but I remembered that most of the freshmen that joined the team last year turned out to be really bad at the sport and not that hard working./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When the coach asked for our names he made a face when I told him my name and he didn't even look up from his clipboard. I could see him already put an x over my pass or fail box. I guess that he didn't forget me from last year. I was the first one called up to the ring and when my name was called all of the people that were on the team last year started to snicker./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I stepped into the arena to face my opponent. To my surprise, it was the same person that I had faced last year and who had knocked me out on my ass in fifteen seconds flat. Recognizing me he walked over to me and talked to me. "Hey I remember you from last year," he says to me. "Yeah, how couldn't you remember me I was the only one who was eliminated in fifteen seconds" I replied. "That's true," he said, "but it looks as though I won't be able to win as easily." "That's if you win at all" I retort. "Well someone is cocky," He said. "My name is Scott what's yours?" "Rota" I replied "Well Rota, good luck" "Same goes for you Scott." With these words being said we both walked back into our corners and waited for the bell to go off./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The referee stepped into the ring. "This will be a one-round match, clinching is illegal and you will be given two downs. If you are downed and cannot stand back up to your feet and hold your guard up within ten seconds then you will be eliminated. I want this match to be clean which means no liver blows, and no clinching...When the bell rings you may box." /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With that being said the ref stepped to the side of the ring and beckoned us towards the center. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I relaxed all of my muscles and entered a boxer's stance. Scott put up his guard and I was about to put up my own out of habit but then I realized that if I did that then all of the work that I had put in this summer would have been a waste of time. I put up my left hand in front of my face and my right hand down by my waist in a hitman's stance./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Scott did a terrible job of showing his surprise at my move, but he did nothing to counter my stance. I tightened up all of my leg muscles preparing to spring the second that the bell went off./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The bell went off and I flew off of the ground in a lunge going straight for Scott. The move was very straightforward and Scott reacted the way that I hoped he would. His right cross came flying out and hit the air where I had been a split second earlier. His guard was open for an attack from below, which was exactly where I was. I sprang up with all of my might bringing my left arm up and connecting my left fist with the bottom of his jaw throwing him up into the air a couple of inches. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I didn't even wait for him to fall back to the ground when I used a right smash on his nose and sent him flying back into the mat./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Suddenly everything went silent. I looked at the ref who was looking at Scott with complete shock. "Are you going to start counting?" I asked him. That seemed to snap him out of his daze because he started to count. He went over to Scott and took a look at him. Then he waved his arms to make an X which meant a KO./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I stepped out of the ring and at first nothing happened. It was only until I actually stepped up to the coach and asked how I did that everyone seemed to snap out of the daze that they were in. At first, the coach just looked at me not saying a word. After a few seconds had passed the coach finally looked down at his clipboard and erased the x that he had made over my name. "You're in." he said, "practice starts tomorrow at five o'clock in the evening but there is an optional practice at six in the morning as well." With that information in my back pocket, I walked out of the gym and out of the sports center./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The next day I had my mom take me to the sports center for the optional morning practice. When I got there I was directed to a room that I had never seen before in the basement. When I got to the room it was like boxer heaven. I had quite a bit of boxer equipment at my house but there were somethings in the room that I had never seen before./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I had taken about seven steps into the room when the coach came to greet me. "You're late," he said I checked my watch and it had just turned to six o'clock. "What do you mean sir I'm right on time?" "To be on time is to be late is to be disrespectful. To be on time you need to be at least fifteen minutes early." "But that's not fair" I protested, "You told me to be here at six o'clock for the optional practice and now you're telling me that I should have come here earlier?" "That isnot my problem" The coach replied "But since the others have already left for road work and there is no chance that you will be able to catch up to them I guess that I can train you with mitt punching for a little bit. Go get changed and come back here and get in the ring. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I went into the locker room and got changed. By the time that I came out of the locker room coach garrison was in the ring facing me with his left arm behind his back so that I couldn't see it. In his right hand was a punching mitt. I ducked into the ring making sure to keep eye contact with the coach./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I walked to the center of the ring and got into a boxing stance. Coach Garrison held out the punching pad and motioned for me to hit it. I threw a left jab and was preparing to throw a right cross when I felt a solid punch make contact with my right temple./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The force of the punch threw me to the mat. "Why are you flat on your ass?" Coach Garrison asked me, I looked up at him and he was still in the same stance that he was in when I stepped into the ring./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I got back up and entered back into the same stance that I was in before. I threw a right uppercut and it made clean contact with the pad. It was only when I threw a left cross that I got hit again, I was expecting it and I saw the punch being thrown but I couldn't do anything to stop it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When the punch made contact with my face I threw my head in the direction the force was coming from to reduce damage. This time I did not hit the mat, I put my guard up and started to throw more punches. This time I made sure that one of my hands was guarding my face to guard from any incoming attacks. I hammer away at the punching glove for a few minutes when Coach Garrison orders me to stop./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I can see that you are quick learner, that's good" Coach praises, "alright the rest of the team should be getting back from their first lap of roadwork, I want you to join them for the second lap./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay Coach" I reply cheerfully, I am about to walk out of the room when he says something else. "After school today you will enter a tournament of one round matches so that I can see how strong you actually are." I nod my head and leave the room excited for my second match in two days./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Just as the coach had predicted by the time that I walk outside the other people on the boxing team are coming around the corner. I am just about to start running when they stop in front of me. "Hey, Rota!" Scott says cheerfully, "Are you here to join us?" he asks. He takes a quick look at my face and snickers slightly, "Coach put you through mitt punching?" "Yeah...how could you tell?" I ask, "Well there's a huge bruise on your face" he replies, "Oh yeah, he taught me how to maintain my guard by not teaching me," I say, almost the second that I say it I feel a pole hitting me in the head. I turn around to see the coach standing there with a cane./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do you have a problem with the way that I teach?" He asked the look on his face told me that it was a rhetorical question and that there was no correct answer. "Since you have a problem with my teaching, you get to run and extra lap of roadwork, now get to it."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Realizing that arguing with him would be pointless I turned around and started to run. Within a few seconds, Scott is next to me. "You do realize that you have no idea where you are supposed to go right?" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I figured that you would tell me where to go because you generally seem like a nice guy." I replied, "you are right about the fact that I am a nice guy if what happened to me happened to any of the other guys at the gym they would hate you."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We continued to talk for the rest of the loop and by the time that we had finished it, it was time for us to head to school, still angry from me criticizing his way of teaching, Coach Garrison told me that I would have to complete the roadwork before my matches after school./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"This didn't really matter to me, I was still in a great mood because I would be able to have another match. School went by uneventful, I didn't really pay attention to what the teachers were saying because I was to busy thinking of my attack plan for the tournament. Before I knew it, the final bell had rung and I was on my way to the gym./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was about to get changed into my boxing clothes when Coach Garrison stopped me. "You think that I forgot what I said to you?" He asked. "Before you can even get your boxing clothes and what-not on, you have to complete your roadwork, and this time I am sending my son Grant to keep you at the pace I want you to run." A figure appears behind Coach Garrison, he sticks out his hand and offers me to shake it. Reluctantly I shake his hand, his grip is very firm he steps into the sunlight a little better and I can see him more clearly. He has a boxer's build but not a boxer's face. His face was way too kind looking for him to be a boxer./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Grant makes a motion for me to follow him, while he is walking I notice that he has a slight limp to his stride. We step outside and Grant gets on a road bike, "Start running, my dad does not want you to go any slower than twelve miles an hour for the three-mile loop. This means that it will take you around fifteen minutes to complete the loop. I can feel my mouth open a little bit in shock, "That fast? I don't even think that the fastest runners on our cross country team can run that fast." I reply in shock, "Hey don't get mad at me if you're going to be mad at anyone be mad at my dad."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Let's just get this over with," I say, I start to run at a pace that I think would be around twelve miles an hour. Within a minute Grant speaks up, "Your running at a speed of thirteen miles an hour, you might want to slow down just a bit." He tells me in a helpful tone. "I'll run at a four-minute pace for the first mile, then each mile I'll slow down a minute so that I will be somewhat rested in time for my first match," I reply, Grant raises his eyebrow at me but doesn't say anything, I speed up slightly so that I can match the speed that I need./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I finish the roadwork with a few extra seconds to spare, but it comes at a cost. My body feels completely drained of energy when I am changing into my boxing. I walk out of the changing room and am met by Scott. "Guess what, I am your first opponent, and this time I will not be going easy on you."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sweet, I was hoping that I could fight you during the tournament, but I was not expecting to be fighting you in the first round." We walk out together and take a seat in the ready room. Our fight is next so I take the time to steady my breathing so that I will have recovered somewhat by the time that our fight begins./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Special Elite',cursive; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After a minute of waiting in the room, we are called out to the ring. We step into the ring, I am in the red corner and Scott is in the blue corner, the ref explains the rules to us. The rules are the same as the qualifying round. He tells us to bump our gloves together, and I and Scott bump fists. We take our stances and something is different, Scott is entering a southpaw stance. He seems a lot more comfortable in this stance than he was in a normal boxing stance, that's when it hits me, Scott is a southpaw. I don't have time to think about this because the moment I get into my stance the bell rings starting the match./span/p 


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